Fortune Hunter draws on teaching children of a global scale fourth grade mathematics through the guise of a dungeon styled adventure game. Players will be able to explore dungeons and fight fearsome battles with various monsters, each requiring special attacks pertaining to unique mathematical concept to defeat. The player controls a protagonist that must progress through maze-like dungeons, solve puzzles / problems, and defeat enemies in a two dimensional world.

Abstract

Effective education is an important and serious issue in all regions of the world. The focus of Fortune Hunter is to provide and promote additional educational tools through technology to make knowledge more fun, interesting, free and available to students of the world and make recognizable this new means of future public service. Fortune Hunter provides supplemental educational mathematics material to its players. We are consulting the effectiveness of education through unconventional means, specifically video games. People learn easily through experience more than standard teaching methods. We stray away from standardized questioning and focus on inherent problem solving skills via various mathematical concepts. One of the highlights of this process is the ability to commit to an open community of users, developers, and interest groups and spread awareness. The project will not reach a finite state ever, which allows for continual growth and development, primarily based on constructivist feedback of students. It's hard to make useful software free and widely available. We will provide thousands of children with additional learning resources. MAFH players will learn in and out of the classroom while having fun simultaneously. Being available for an entire world of learners (on XO and PC), we provide statistic tracking and analytical models for teachers and students to easily follow and understand. There was a 20% increase in math scores for students who used educational math games in 2009. Education is a valuable tool and to provide a new free learning experience that catches on will alter the world.

Getting Started

Welcome to the Fortune Hunter™ experience! Please use the Navigation Panel located at the top and bottom of each page to move around the wiki. A Table of Contents is located in the upper-right corner of each page as well.

Also note that in order to get the full extent of our efforts, we have divided the project into two separate XO activities. Fortune Hunter is a playable adventure game and Fortune Maker™ is a custom level / story creator. They are both available and work hand in hand.

Here is a brief outline of what to expect on each page of the Fortune Hunter wiki:

Home - This is the central hub for Fortune Hunter™ and Fortune Maker™. Come here to check out the latest news, info, releases, to learn about the project, and to brush up on your Fortune Hunter™ vocabulary.

Developer's Corner - This is the developer's hub for Fortune Hunter™ and Fortune Maker™. Go there to contact / learn about the team, submit ideas and comments, join the team, and keep track of the milestones and objectives during production.

Game Mechanics - Learn about the game play. Anything related to the game's functionality is located here.

Dungeon Guide - Follow the story arc of Fortune Hunter™, as well as view a detailed play through guide outlining each dungeon, level, cutscene, and FMC.

Education - Interested in utilizing Fortune Hunter™ in the classroom? Learn about the educational material in the game and check out customizable lesson plan! Also learn how to use Fortune Hunter™ as reinforcement material outside of the classroom.

Helping Out

You can do your part! Would you like to help us? We are seeking people of all skills to help in any way possible. We would like some python programmers, artists, designers, testers, translators to name a few things. Nearly anything can and will be useful to us, so don't be shy about saying HEY! To get started, send an email to jmeschino@mail.rit.edu.

News Feed

This spot is dedicated to news announcements regarding the project.

→ 11.14.10 - We are currently out of active team members, so progress is expected to halt for a while. If you are interest, please contact jmeschino@mail.rit.edu; we would love to have you help out. Jon Meschino is always available for questions or help and you can keep an eye on his blog for Fortune Hunter updates. If you want to jump into it, you can find a to-do list at our Trac page! Thanks, and I'll update again when there is need.

→ 10.10.10 - We are currently working on Fortune Hunter release 3.0!

→ 02.05.10 - New links added to MEDIA section.

→ 02.02.10 - Our first public release of Fortune Mather™!! Please scroll down this page to the DOWNLOAD section to get a copy for yourself.

→ 01.27.10 - Our first public release of Fortune Hunter™!! Please scroll down this page to the DOWNLOAD section to get a copy for yourself.

→ 01.15.10 - Yet another wiki reformat. We have spread the pages more thin to increase ease of access and use. The Navigation Bar has all of the pages listed.

→ 01.06.10 - User testing day! We held a preliminary user trial to work out game play elements at a school district in New Jersey. The game was played by fifth grade students, who provided us with constructive feedback. Pictures of the students playing will be posted shortly...

→ 01.01.10 - Happy New Year!!

→ 12.16.09 - Rearranged the wiki into sections and added navigation at the top of the page.

Introduction

Mathematical Adventure: Fortune Hunter draws on teaching children of a global scale fourth grade mathematics through the guise of a dungeon styled adventure game. Players will be able to explore dungeons and fight fearsome battles with various monsters, each requiring special attacks pertaining to unique mathematical concept to defeat. The player controls a protagonist that must progress through maze-like dungeons, solve puzzles / problems, and defeat enemies in a two dimensional world. It is a single player adventure with room for ad hoc cooperative play in the future.

MAFH™ follows the story of Arith, a determined young researcher dedicated to finding all of the world’s best hidden secrets. One day she stumbled across a piece of blank papyrus during the time she spent studying in Egypt on a dig site. She quickly brought it to her best friend and colleague, Lytic. They were determined to find out more about this strange paper, but the two could not unearth its secrets in such a short time. To them, it was just a blank piece of ancient material.

Two months later, the dig ever deeper into the earth, Arith noticed a faint glow emanating from a random pile of dirt. “What’s that over there?” she asked Lytic, who was standing nearby with his shovel. Digging it out, Lytic noticed that it was a small amulet. It let off the strangest beautiful teal glow. “Strange,” he remarked. Lytic stared deep into the light, his eyes widening as if in a trance. "Just what are you?" he questioned. The glow got even brighter and then went dim again. Now the amulet appeared to be as plain as any other stone. Confused, the two left the site to turn in for the night.

Upon bringing this find to back to their living quarters, Lytic tossed it lightly on the table. It landed near the old blank papyrus that Arith had found months earlier. The amulet began to glow again. This time, the papyrus wasn't blank. The light appeared to be the key and filled the papyrus with teal characters and symbols. The two stared amazed at the sight. Nothing made sense. It was no language they’d ever come across before. Upon closer inspection, only one thing was certain. The image of a giant pile of treasure, larger than anything you could imagine. The other familiar image was of a human mind with mathematical symbols surrounding it. Apparently, those who desired this treasure must be intelligent and versed in the ways of mathematics. There was one other hint on the old Egyptian paper. It was extremely cold to the touch. The two agreed this meant it must be somewhere on Earth in a very cold or dark place. At last, a massive treasure hunt was underway.

Four days after, Arith and Lytic found themselves in a strange place face to face with a mysterious and ancient building, relics in hand. “You wait here. I’ll go take a look around,” Arith told Lytic. “Okay. Good luck.”

Arith entered the chilly, dark structure alone; unaware of what lay in wait…

Objectives

The objective of this project is to reiterate teachings of fourth grade mathematics to students in a fun and unique way, primarily through the use of creative interactive software. The project is intended to be used as supplemental material to classroom education. See Curriculum Elements for incorporated curriculum topics and Lesson Plan for a lesson plan to use in the classroom.

Terminology

There are many vocabulary terms used throughout this document and the game. They are listed here for clarification and understanding.

• Accessory: An item that can be equipped for bonus affects.

• Akhal: The in-game currency units.

• Amulet Search: A search executed by using the amulet to uncover hidden secrets.

• Armor: An item that can be equipped for additional defense.

• Attack: What the player uses to deal damage to enemies.

• Attack Power: The strength of an attack. The higher the attack, the more damage dealt.

• Basic Attack: A very basic attack that deals a minimal amount of damage to enemies and is ineffective to most.

• Bonus Power: Additional affects added to the basic statistics of the player.

• Boss: This is a rather powerful enemy which requires completion of specialized problems found within the dungeon.

• Combat: A sequence in which the player must fight enemies.

• Combat Timer: This bar is found within battles and is a bonus effect timer for your current attack. It starts out full and slowly diminishes, decreasing the bonus effect over time.

• Critical Attack: An effective attack that gives the player the chance to deal additional damage to enemies providing the player solves a multiplication problem.

• Cutscene: A halt during game play to provide story elements and hints to the player.

• Damage / dmg: The amount of health points lost during a successful attack.

• Defense Power: The ability to minimize damage dealt. The higher the defense, the less damage is received.

• Dungeon: A series of levels connected to one another following the same theme, ending with a boss fight.

• Enemy: A hostile opponent faced in the game.

• Equipment: Refers to items that are currently equipped to the player for use.

• FMC (Full Motion Comic): A video that interrupts game play to show story progression. This video is in the style of a motion comic.

• FMV (Full Motion Video): A video that interrupts game play to show story progression. This video is in the style of a typical movie.

• GB Mode: Setup the XO monitor so it is raised and rotated 180* and fold it back down into the XO. Use the directional pad and four buttons located on either side of the monitor for game input.

• Health Meter: This meter shows the current health status.

• HP: Health points. The player’s game is over when their health points reach zero.

• HUD (Heads Up Display): Refers to the graphical elements presented on screen.

• Inventory: All of the items and equipment that the player is currently holding.

• Item: Usable items that can be used at any time and have various affects.

• Key Item: Important items found in the game required for progression.

• Level: A map consisting of multiple rooms which the player must explore in order to find the exit.

• Macro Map: A larger version of the mini map. It allows players to see a greater area.

• Magic Attack: This type of attack requires the player to solve geometry and graphing related problems.

• Mini Map: A small on-screen map used for navigational purposes.

• PC Mode: Setup the XO monitor so it is open, with the keyboard to its front. Use the keyboard and touchpad for game input.

• Shop: In-game shop. The player can travel to the shop to purchase or sell items or equipment.

• Special Attack: This type of attack requires the player to solve fraction related problems.